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Celebrating car-love on Valentine's Day

February 13, 2013

1 of 14"It may not have been a pedigreed exotic, but with its flares and spoilers, twincam straight six...I could wind it out and pretend I was piloting an Espada across Tuscany," said Digital Editor, Andrew Stoy.

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2 of 14Associate editor Angie Fisher's first car was a 1997 Dodge Stratus named "Bessie" that was best known for her rusted back doors that wailed when opened.

Photo by Dodge

3 of 14Associate technical editor Brad Constant said his Chevrolet Cavalier was one of the best-handling cars he's ever driven.

Photo by Chevrolet

4 of 14Technical editor Dale Jewett enjoyed his time the family's 1973 Jeep CJ-5, especially when it popped out of gear and rolled down the driveway into the neighbor's yard.

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5 of 14Editorial director Dutch Mandel still wishes he hadn't sold the Mustang that carried him through his college years.

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6 of 14Associate editor Jake Lingeman had a blast teaching friends how to drive a manual in a 1980 Ford F-150 similar to the one pictured here.

Photo by Ford

7 of 14Road test editor Jonathan Wong was lucky enough to get a brand-new car as his first set of wheels: a Honda Prelude like this one.

9 of 14Pinned-up pictures held up the headliner of associate online editor Sherrice Gilsbach's first Volkswagen.

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10 of 14Editor Wes Raynal loved "blowing the doors off" his best friend's souped-up 1967 Pontiac with his stock 'Cuda.

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11 of 14Copy editor Julian Toles said it wasn't easy to get his Ford Contour up to speed, but he loved its character-building color. His was teal, unlike this red one.

Photo by Ford

12 of 14Here's associate editor Graham Kozak, in 2005 with his first car, a 1951 Packard.

Photo by Graham Kozak

13 of 14News editor, Greg Migliore, drove his Chevy Lumina through college, grad school and even to a first internship.

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14 of 14Executive editor, Bob Gritzinger, bought a two-door Biscayne similar to the one in the photo for $75, put 30,000 miles on it and then sold it for $150.

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Andy Stoy

Love of cars often starts young. It may begin with attending that first auto show or with the first ride in a convertible. Some have succumbed after hearing a powerful engine growl or inhaling the odor of burned rubber.

Regardless of what ignites car passion, we all have one thing in common -- that unforgettable moment you got your first set of keys.

Grab your heart-shaped box of chocolates and read as we recount memories of our first loves, ahem, cars.

Distinguishing characteristics: When I picked it up, it had 111 miles on it. I bought the car from the dealership in Michigan that gave us the best deal but they had to do a dealer trade with another one to get it. Instead of shipping it, they probably just drove the darn thing over, putting more miles on it.

Notable quirks: For some reason, a lot of fifth-generation Preludes developed a suspension clunk in cold weather. Without fail, once it got cold out you would turn right or left and then you would hear a clunk. It would also happen when you drove over large bumps and potholes. Honda eventually issued a recall for it and it went away for the most part. I believe they replaced the rear springs, but I still heard a little noise from the rear suspension from time to time. It was nowhere near as bad, though.

What you loved: I loved the five-speed manual gearbox in it. I thought it was the best shifting one in the world, but of course the only other manuals I had driven at that point were a Mercury Topaz and Ford Escort GT. Also, the 2.2-liter four-cylinder is a heck of an engine and sounded great when Vtec kicked in at about 4500 rpm. That little extra punch and distinctive sound always brought a smile to my face.

It was my first car and with it I did my first track day. I didn't really know what a proper race line was at the time and was freaking slow on track, but to discover the freedom of driving a car in a safe environment is really something. And when you're in a car that you have an emotional attachment to, like I do with my first car, it's even more special.

Rory Carroll

Distinguishing characteristics: It sported that tealish color that was all the rage during the early to mid-90s: a color which was decidedly outdated by the time Y2K rolled around, and right on its way back in style by the time I claimed ownership in 2005 … as any good trend must do.

Notable quirks: Getting this bad boy up to speed was a genuine exercise in patience.

What you loved: This car got what seemed like 62 miles to the gallon, back in the days when gas was relatively cheap at around $2.50 a full milk carton. I only filled up twice over the course of ownership, which means either it got much more than 62 mpg or I only owned the car for 124 miles. It was the latter. My lean-green machine was totaled (T-boned) as I made a left-hand turn into the parking lot of my first job, Arby's, me sporting a disappointed face and an Arby's Green Polo that, truth be told, matched my car. Talk about full circle.

Sherrice Gilsbach

First car: 1983 Plymouth Horizon

Cost: $300

Name: After the “rizon” part of the badge was broken off, it was known as the Ho.

Details: 1.7L VW Four Pot, Auto trans

Distinguishing characteristics: Whorehouse red interior

What you loved: I once put a hole in the oil pan without noticing it. I drove for a couple of hours and when I got home I noticed that a few drops of oil had leaked in the driveway. Replaced the pan and it was fine. The valves were a little noisy for about a week but after that it was back to normal.

Wes Raynal

Distinguishing characteristics: The exterior looked fairly normal but the covering on the seats and headliner had seen better days. Brightly colored beach towels were used to cover the seats and pictures of me and my friends pinned to the ceiling kept that falling liner out of our eyes.

Notable quirks: Could not go into first gear without stopping off to visit second first.

What you loved: Freedom! You are never bored if you have a decent set of wheels because you can always load up your crew, crank the music and just drive around -- enjoy the view. Granted, gas costs more today (it was less than a dollar per gallon when I started driving) and people in general are more environmentally conscious so we tend to drive a bit less, but I am still a fan of the random cruise with good music and good company.

First car: Plymouth Barracuda

Cost: $600

Name: N/A

Details: It had a 273-cubic-inch V8 and a three-speed automatic transmission.

Distinguishing characteristics: It was blue with a blue interior. It was based on the Plymouth Valiant (shared the Valiant's chassis, hood, headlamps, windshield, front fenders and bumpers), but at the time of course I pretended that wasn't the case.

What you loved: At the time my best friend had a 1967 Pontiac that he was constantly working to make faster, while I left my car basically stock. Still, in the impromptu drag races we used to have when we were in our teens my little blue Plymouth blew his doors off routinely. Drove him crazy.

Growing up in the suburbs of Atlanta in the 1980s, I was fully immersed in imported cars -- few people I knew or went to school with owned domestics, save for my friend's father's Mercury Colony Park wagon (an abomination at the time but one I wish I could get my hands on today). Since I fancied myself a future exotic-car owner, complete with the requisite “Decisions, Decisions, Decisions” poster on my bedroom wall -- the Countach/288 GTO/959 version -- I coveted something European, with as many camshafts as possible.

Obviously a Ferrari or Porsche was out for reasons beyond my meager savings, but there were a number of interesting rides within reach for a newly minted driver at the time. I considered a Fiat X1/9, then an early MR2, before finally settling on an impeccably maintained 1983 Toyota Supra. It may not have been a pedigreed exotic, but with its flares and spoilers, twincam straight six, five-speed stick, bucket seats and automatic climate control, I could wind it out and pretend I was piloting an Espada across Tuscany.

Yes, I wish I still had my Supra, and I also wish I could offer up some tale of sacrifice to explain its departure. The truth is that I was a fickle young enthusiast and I sold the car after about a year to get a high-mileage BMW 320is. Yes, it was slow but it was German…and a mistake. When an '84 Supra showed up on the used-car lot at the dealership where I was working, I immediately snapped it up and ditched the BMW.

Bob Gritzinger

Notable quirks: Bessie was best known for her rusted back doors that wailed when opened.

What you loved: All the memories. It was a few months past my 16th birthday before my parents gave me the car and I can still remember when my dad shared the news. I came home late one night from ballet practice and my parents called me into their bedroom, pretending to be half awake. “Angela, I have to tell you something about my car -- it's all yours,” my dad said, with a gotcha smile. I was so excited I think I jumped on their bed. I was the recipient of a 1997 Dodge Stratus with about 98,000 miles on it. My mom bought me a Dashboard Diva, I popped in my favorite mixed CD in the single-disc player and cruised around town with my three best girlfriends. I kept the car until I left for college, but Bessie lives on with my cousin's family.

Brad Constant

Distinguishing characteristics: Big, gray-brown, two-door, with a huge, door-to-door steel dashboard, bench seating for six (or eight in a squeeze), and a BRIGHT yellow “bright” headlights indicator on the speedometer. No radio (at least until it was upfitted with a stereo that tripled the value of the car).

Notable quirks: The car featured a 230-cubic inch inline six hooked to a two-speed Powerglide automatic transmission, but that's where it got really weird. The tranny, which leaked about a quart of fluid every 1,000 miles, was air cooled, with a round vent hole in the top of the bell housing, fins on the torque converter and an exhaust chute at the bottom. Odd. It also was fitted with an Arctic engine oil heater -- the two-prong electric plug dangled from the front grille.

The details: A whole car for $75! You bet, and made even more stunning by the fact that it had just 60,000 miles on the clock when it came into my possession in 1976. The Whale was a heavy beast, and at 140 hp and 220 lb-ft of torque was way underpowered. But with gas prices spiking in the mid-1970s, and the double-nickel speed limit in full effect, The Whale was cheap to run and so non-descript as to be almost unnoticeable to the law -- which was just the way my friends and I liked it. The engine wound up like an intercity bus, hitting 55 mph in first gear before dumping into second and dropping the revs into the basement. But The Whale never left us stranded and always was the ride of choice, in part because the audio system featured enough amplification to be heard underwater.

What you loved: The car was totally repairable, regardless of what went wrong. Gas tank loose -- tie it up. Exhaust dragging -- add some pipe hangers. Seat bracket broken -- prop it with a two-by-four. Oil changes, plugs, points -- all easy as pie. Being able to wire in extra audio equipment was a plus as well. But if there's one thing that makes me smile, even today, it's when I hear rockin' Bob Seger singing “out in the back seat of my '60 Chevy” and I always think “my '63 Chevy.” Night moves, indeed.

*Actual “first car” was an evil 1968 Volkswagen Beetle that spent more time in pieces than on the road. Owned for less than six months. Hate to even think of it as my “first car.”

Dale Jewett

First car: 1992 Chevrolet Cavalier RS coupe

Cost: $1,500

Name: The car remained nameless because I could not find a name that was truly worthy of describing my Cavalier.

Details: Under the hood was a massive 2.2-liter four-cylinder engine that originally produced 110 hp. I think it was closer to 80 or 90 hp when I took delivery of the machine. That power was fed to the front wheels through a three-speed automatic transmission.

Distinguishing characteristics: Two cigarette burns in the headliner and wooden blocks holding the headlights in place

Notable quirks: After a few years, the number of flaws grew to finally include failure of the power locks and the seizing of the driver's-side door lock in the lock position (it took some force to get the door to unlock, which had to happen with me leaning in through the passenger's side). This defect actually helped me win over my wife since she thought I was being a gentleman for the first few months of our relationship.

What you loved: The best thing was the car's handling. It is still one of the best-handling cars I've driven, well when I first got it. The shocks and struts had been replaced before my parents bought it, so it was stiff and cornered flat. The brakes -- disc in the front and drums in the back -- had plenty of stopping power so I could throw it into a corner and it would stick. I spent many drives pulling away from faster cars in the curves thanks to my Cavalier's handling.

Dutch Mandel

Distinguishing characteristics: Soft top could be removed. Windshield would fold flat onto the hood. It was adorned with the Super Jeep option, a white body covered in red and blue stripes.

Notable quirks: Had a bad habit of popping out of gear and rolling down the driveway into the neighbor's yard.

What you loved: First, it was a three-speed manual. I had to master this transmission before my parents would let me drive an automatic. It's also were I learned to love the control of using a clutch to limit wheelspin and prevent rollback on hills. It was the ultimate go-anywhere vehicle for high school -- four-wheel-drive is handy in a muddy Iowa field. And in summer it was the ultimate convertible. In winter the heater was super strong. It didn't have a radio but you couldn't hear it with the top off anyway.

Notable quirks: It did have this cool center console storage area that was almost hidden. I put my 8-track tape player in that area and no one -- I mean no one -- knew I had it.

What you loved: I could not leave well enough alone and the first OPEC oil embargo had only recently ended, I went ahead and bolted an 850-CFM Holley carburetor to the top of that manifold, got some used Michelin radials (a friend convinced his mom she needed new tires on her Mercedes), got a four-point harness and went auto-cross racing at Stead Air Force Base.

I sold her for $1,200 in 1980. Wish I hadn't.

Greg Migliore

First Car: 1951 Packard 200 Deluxe Touring Sedan

Cost: Honestly can't remember but not an incredible amount.

Name: I never got in the habit of nicknaming cars.

Details: It had a 288-cubic-inch straight-eight and Packard's independently developed Ultramatic automatic transmission

Distinguishing characteristics: Turquoise with lots of chrome and a living room-sized interior in a nicely contrasting blue-gray wool broadcloth. The most comfortable bench seats in the world. No seatbelts, no power steering, no power brakes. No radio, except for the one time I got it to work for like five seconds.

Notable quirks: The combination of a smooth-running 288-cubic inch straight-eight and Packard Ultramatic automatic transmission made the car an incredibly easy cruiser, even if it was pretty slow. That was OK, though, because the steering was hardly precise and the drum brakes in all four corners made stopping an adventure. When the car stopped at all, that is: I lost the brakes once while in a residential neighborhood one afternoon and ended up on someone's lawn. After inspecting the system I found nothing wrong and never had trouble with brake line pressure again. Also, the neutral safety switch -- designed to stop the car from being started in gear -- had a tendency to come loose and prevent ignition. I learned to bypass it in a pinch (it involved some sketchy underhood operations), which was great…well, you probably know where this is going. One day, I started the car in gear and had to chase it down as it cruised down the street driverless.

What you loved: This should be pretty much self-evident. I had a massive, 50-year-old car with two massive bench seats in high school -- how could the experience be anything other than incredible? My high school activities consisted of band (not a band, the band; I played clarinet) and the radio astronomy team (and working on the car, naturally). I think it's safe to say that the car broadened my social opportunities. But that's not why I wanted the car or what I ended up liking the most about it. And as it's older than my parents it can't exactly trigger nostalgia. No, I like it because, from its metal dashboard to its spearlike chrome hood ornament, the car has more character than most cars on the road put together.

Jake Lingeman

First car: 1993 Chevy Lumina purchased as a joint venture with my brother.

Cost: $1,000-$1,200

Name: N/A

Details: V6 with a three-speed automatic transmission

Notable quirks: It required a running (or pushing start) on occasion. The power windows wouldn't roll down, and at one point two of the four doors just wouldn't open. The heat and AC were also an adventure.

What you loved: I loved not having a car payment -- so I lived with its foibles. It provided many years of transportation for me at a time when I needed it and didn't have money to spend on new wheels. I drove it for years -- well through college, grad school and even to a first internship. Overall, it was reasonably reliable. I sold it with about 130,000 miles on the clock.